The older your computer gets you will notice not only will it naturally slow down but there will be some programs and hardware that might become incompatible. Knowing the age of your computer may be important to find out whether it is time for an upgrade or find some more life in your machine somehow. In this article i will simply show you some ways you can find out how old your computer is and when it was manufactured.

Finding out how old your computer is can also help if you are wondering if your computer is under warranty or not.

Check your Computers Serial Numbers and Manufacturer’s Stickers

Unless you have done a custom-built pc using components bought separately, the machine will usually have a sticker with the manufactured date and serial number on it. In most cases you can use the serial number to find out the manufactured date. Either type it in google or somewhere on the manufacturers website and you will be presented with information on your PC.

This process can also be used to identify the manufacturing date of the individual parts if the computer was built from scratch. This is handy if you wish to upgrade individual parts and not replace the entirety of the computer.

Do note that you should never remove the serial number sticker to try and record the code. Many manufacturers will void your warranty if the serial number sticker is removed. You may also need the serial number again in the future, and forgetting to put the sticker back will cause you to potentially lose it. Write it down or take a quick digital photo. Never take it off.

Windows – Methods to find out How Old is my Computer.

If the serial number does not contain a manufacturing date, or the manufacturer’s website is unable to give a date using the serial number alone, you have alternatives. If you are using a Windows 10 PC, then you can find all the relevant information using the Windows System Info command. To do this, follow these steps:

Bios version and date

Here’s the step-by-step process to pulling up your system’s info via command prompt:

1. In the Windows search box in the taskbar, type sysinfo and hit enter.
2. Scroll down until you see ‘BIOSVersion/ Date:”
3. Check the date listed

This should produce a list of data. Scroll through the list until you find the BIOS Version Information. This is the BIOS Version date, which usually gives a rough estimate of how old your computer may be. This is not the manufacturing date, but it may be close. If you have updated your BIOS since you have purchased your computer, though, that might not give an accurate date. And, if you bought your computer used, there’s no guarantee that the BIOS was not updated by the previous owner.

CPU release date

Here’s how to check your CPUs original release date:

1. In the Windows search box in the taskbar, type sysinfo and hit enter.
2. Your CPU will be listed next to ‘Processor’
3. Take your processor name and search for it in Google
4. Click on the manufacturer’s website (either Intel or AMD)
5. Somewhere on that page, there should be an initial release date of your processor

For example my processor (Intel Core i5-8250U), Intel lists an original release date of Q3’17. This is also handy if you are looking at buying a second hand PC to see if how old the CPU is.

Apple Macbook – Methods to find out How Old is my Computer

There are a couple of ways to tell how old your Mac is. There is a good chance that your Mac OS may have been upgraded during the life of the computer, so the best method is to use the Model Identifier and/or serial number.

Select the Apple logo on the desktop and About This Mac. The window that appears will show you exactly when the Mac was manufactured, for example, it might say MacBook Pro (Late 2015) in the results. If you want more detailed results lets, follow the below steps.

1. Find your machine’s serial number.
2. If the sticker is in an out of the way place, you can find this information through the OS itself. You can do this by:
3. Heading to the OS home page to restore the Finder menu.
4. Click on the Apple Icon.
5. Click on About This Mac.
6. Click on More Info and you will find your hardware’s serial number listed under Overview.
7. Proceed to this Apple Check Coverage website.
8. Enter your serial number in the text box, solve the verification code, then click on Continue.
9. You should be given the proper dates after you follow the further instructions.

How Old Is Too Old For A Computer?

Are you wondering if your computer is too old and how old is too old? Most computers these days only last about 4-6 years so it may be worth looking into how old your computer actually is. If your computer is older than that it’s considered a dinosaur and you might start seeing some performance issue trying to keep up with today’s technology. Technology is forever being updated and computers get faster and memory gets bigger as time goes on. For example, if you still have an old Windows XP computer, you’ll find that searching the internet painfully slow even if you have a fast connection. This is because the web pages are getting bigger, so the computer has to work harder to show you the pages. A computer that is older then 4 years, may start to struggle loading web pages, applications and documents that have grown in size and use more resources.

If your computer is less than 4-6 years old and underperforming, it is more likely that it these performance issues can be resolved and may just need a cleanup to get it back into shape.

There are many reasons one may want to know how old their computer is. Most people want to see whether it is time for an upgrade, while others want to know whether the system is still under warranty. Whatever reason you may have to check the age of your computer, as explained in this article, it’s really a straightforward process.